COVERDALE-FRONSNOVA, Judy

Judy Coverdale – Fronsnova Sculpture

Sculptor, Photographer, Art & Management Consultant

B.A. (Hons), M.T.C.P. (Arch. Syd), AFAIM, Advanced Dip. Fine Arts ( Sydney Gallery School, Meadowbank )

Fronsnova, “new leaf” in Latin, signifies for me growth, potential and renewal…

I have always been fascinated by the range and variation in expressions of culture and social behaviour within the oneness of humanity, and the role that art and symbols play in creating a sense of meaning, place, inspiration, well-being and belonging.

Sculpture in private and public spaces epitomises this potential for me, and I have always appreciated and longed to create meaningful works that speak to people at a deeper level. I try to observe and describe the fundamental shapes, sacred geometry, poetic patterns and essential elements of nature and humanity and then translate them through natural materials like stone, metal, glass and bronze into distilled thoughts, captured moments and tactile abstract sculpture to share with others in the environment.

My field and research work for my BA (Hons) (University of Sydney) thesis in Social Anthropology was on “Urbanism & the Search for Community – People & Plans”, focussing on the effects of poverty, class, status and power. My early work experience was as a fieldworker, then trainer in the provision of community services, particularly the welfare area of family casework and child abuse.

Working with disadvantaged children and families in Sydney’s Western suburbs led me to seek to improve the functioning and amenity of built environments and public spaces for people. I completed a Masters of Town & Country Planning (M.T.C.P. University of Sydney), while engaged in planning and policy work in the area of Family Support Services at national and state policy level.

The lack of corporate and strategic planning and ineffective distribution of limited resources to the ground level which I continually observed at the policy level of government, shifted my focus to management training and organisation development in the public sector. I then lectured for five years from 1987 at the Australian Institute of Management NSW in the areas of management training and executive skills development.

As Federal Head of Training & Development (TV & Corporate) in the ABC, I co-designed and implemented the Performance Planning & Review System for the Senior Executive Service. I then worked as an independent management consultant in the private and public sector, specialising in strategic business planning and performance management, with a focus on improving teams and work environments by making them “healthier“, more positive, effective, highly productive and rewarding for both managers and individuals in the organisation.

As a Chapter co-ordinator and an International Board member of the World Business Academy – a global network to explore the ethics, issues and examples of new paradigm business – I organised workshops on Organisational Form and Function, looking at the architecture, processes and systems of organisations from the practical perspective of different disciplines.

Expressing my ideas through sculpture and the visual arts is another way to develop, explore and share key organisational principles of wholeness, unity, harmony, and ‘the implicate order’ of quantum physicist David Bohm, and the integration of reality and nature in actual and material form.

During these years I also attended sculpture classes with John Turvey at the Potters Gallery in Darlinghurst, John Gardner at his Bronze Sculpture Workshop at Bondi Beach, Tom Bass at his Broadway Studio, and Helen Leete at the Ku-ring-gai Art Centre.

After I completed a full-time Diploma in 2004 and Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts at the Sydney Gallery School (Meadowbank) in 2005, I moved to the Southern Highlands to establish my workshop and sculpture practice.

I have been sculpting and exhibiting for the last thirteen years in local arts festivals like Kangaroo Valley, Hillview at Sutton Forest, and Sculpture on the Edge at Bermagui, and with the Sculptors Society of NSW in major Sydney city venues.

 

Exhibitions & Awards

2004-5 Group Exhibitions at Side On Art Gallery, Annandale & See Street Gallery, Meadowbank

Exhibited at the Royal Easter Show 2006 with sculptor John Gardner & SOHO Gallery Arts in the Valley 2007 Kangaroo Valley – Garden Sculpture & Indoor Sculpture

As well as private commissions over the years, Judy Coverdale – Fronsnova was commissioned in 2008 to create three major Ave Maria sculptures for St Gregory’s College at Campbelltown

Kangaroo Valley Arts Festivals 2009 & 2011 & 2013 Garden Sculpture & Indoor Sculpture Exhibitions Group Exhibition – Down to Earth Exhibition BDAS Gallery, Bowral July 2009
Sculptors Society Exhibition Australia Square & MLC Sydney October 2009
Mosman Festival of Sculpture, Sydney March 2010

Sculptors Society Exhibition Chifley & Governor Phillip Towers, Sydney May 2010 Sculptors Society Exhibition Darling Park, Sydney August 2010 – Highly Commended – Earthform 24

Group Exhibition – 8 Walk Softly on this Earth, BDAS Gallery,Bowral September 2010 Bowral Outdoor Sculpture Prize BDAS Gallery, Bowral October 2010
Bundanoon Sculpture in the Gardens, October 2010
Sculptors Society Exhibition Australia Square, Sydney October 2010

Sculptors Society Exhibition Gateway Building, Sydney February 2011
Bowral Indoor Sculpture Prize, BDAS Gallery, Bowral April 2011 – Highly Commended – Different World Views

Sculptors Society Exhibition Darling Park, Sydney August 2011
Sculpture on the Edge Exhibition, Bermagui March 2012
Sculptors Society Exhibition Gateway Building, Sydney March 2012
Sculptors Society Towers Exhibition Phillip & Chifley Square, Sydney May 2012 Review of Moon & Sun iv in The Sculptors Society Bulletin July-August 2012

Sculptors Society Exhibition Darling Park, Sydney July 2012

Sculpture-on-High@ Hillview Sutton Forest, November 2012 Outdoor/Indoor & Land Art Installation – Hillview Down-lanterns

Bowral & District Art Society Outdoor Sculpture Prize, Bowral March 2013 – Commended – Reflection Setting

Sculptors Society Exhibition Gateway Building, Sydney March 2013

Sculptors Society Exhibition Darling Park, Sydney July 2013

Sculptors Society Exhibition MLC Building, Sydney October, 2013

3Sculpture@Hillview, Sutton Forest, 2014 Adapted Land Art Installation –Hillview Down- lanterns – painted to glow with photo-luminescent paint

Sculptors Society Exhibition Gateway Building, Sydney March 2015

Sculpture@Hillview, Sutton Forest, 2016 Adapted Land Art Installation – Algiz -Hillview Down-lanterns

Sculptors Society Exhibition Incinerator, Willoughby, March 2017

Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival Sculpture, May 2017       

Sculptors Society Exhibition Chatswood Chase, July, 2017

Sculptors Society Exhibition Angel Place, September, 2017

Old Pot Factory, Braemar – 2017 sculptures and stone benches, tables and birdbaths

Habitat & Style Gallery, Woollahra – sculptures on display 2013 to present

Southern Highlands Art Studio Trail –  November 2019.

Phone: 0427700590